


grinning like a devil

by rachelwrites



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff, Romantic Comedy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25432024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelwrites/pseuds/rachelwrites
Summary: in which mai is forced to live out her worst nightmare (a romantic comedy) with the girl she loves the most (ty lee). it's kind of a mixed bag
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 293





	grinning like a devil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [corpsefaking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/corpsefaking/gifts).



> hi i am new to this fandom and this was totally inspired by a post on tumblr about how there wasn't enough content for these two because i love mailee and they deserve everything. truly all of it.

The problem started, Mai thinks, when Zuko met that cute guy at the coffee shop.

Mai is bussing tables after some idiot customers who were too lazy to do it themselves. Ty Lee was in the back doing inventory and Zuko was working the register when the guy walked in.

Mai didn’t even like men, but she had to admit he was aesthetically pleasing, at the very least. He was tall, tan, and broad shouldered. He had bright blue eyes and the smile he flashed at Mai as he walked in was bright enough to blind. His hair was pulled back into a short ponytail at the back of his head, and he looked like he was just leaving the gym.

Mai turned to stare at Zuko as soon as the guy walked past her. His face was suspiciously tight and motionless, and he swayed from side to side as little. The man looked at Zuko and did a little bit of a jump before leaning down on the counter to grin up at him.

“Hi,” said Zuko, voice shaking, “what can I get for you?” Mai moved closer, just to eavesdrop a little bit better.

“A large Americano,” said the guy, “and your phone number.” Mai’s jaw dropped looking at the two of them. Zuko had never been so openly sought after in his life. He stood there, blushing as red as his scar and muttering things incomprehensible from that far away. It was fun to look at until she started to feel the nervous energy radiating off of the other guy. “I mean, not if you don’t want to! I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, oh god, I’m sorry.”

Mai decided she’d heard enough and decided to step in. Abandoning her tray in the nearest table she slips behind the counter to take Zuko’s place. “Hi,” she says to the guy, “his name’s Zuko and he’s uncomfortable with praise and affection but he does seem to like you. Give me your phone and I’ll put his number in it.” She holds out a hand expectantly.

The guy across the counter stares at her, stunned. Mai rolls her eyes and makes a “gimme” motion with her hands, snapping the guy to his senses. Mai pulls up his contacts app and starts typing. The clacking of her nails on the glass screen echo across the relatively empty shop. “Um, I’m Sokka, by the way,” says the guy.

Mai doesn’t look up. “Hi Sokka, I’m Mai. Zuko, be a dear and get Sokka a coffee for his troubles.” Zuko nods stiffly and shuffles off to get Sokka his Americano. Mai finishes typing the number into the phone and hands it back. “I’ll make sure he’s not like this when you guys go out.”

Sokka sighs a little, looking over her shoulder at Zuko fighting with their coffee machine. “I don’t know, he’s kind of cute all flustered.”

“Ew,” says Mai, completely toneless.

Sokka brings his eyes back to her and chuckles a little. “Thanks,” he says, “how much do I owe you?”

Mai tries. She really does try to smile. It ends up looking more like a grimace, so she gives it up. “On the house,” she said, “Zuko’s uncle runs the place and his nephew going on a date is worth much more than the price of a single coffee.”

Zuko returns with the coffee, still blushing. “Uh, hi,” he starts, “Zuko, here. Text me?”

Sokka grins. “Absolutely.” He winks at Zuko before turning around and sauntering out of the café. Mai cracks a smile.

Zuko begins hitting his head on the counter. “How stupid can I be?” he asks. Mai restrains the urge to ask if that’s rhetorical. “‘Hi, Zuko here’? What the fuck was that?”

“Aw, what’s got Zuzu’s knickers in a twist?” Mai’s heart leaps into her throat as she looks at Ty Lee. Fifteen minutes in their unairconditioned stock room had done her wonders. Her usually braided hair was up in a messy bun, revealing her gorgeous neck. Sweat glistened all over her face, giving her the appearance that she was glowing. Mai wasn’t going to be able to stop staring.

Luckily, Zuko put her out of her misery sooner rather than later. “A cute guy came in and asked for my number and I self-destructed. Mai saved me.”

Ty Lee smiled at her. “Aw, look at you Mai! I knew you were always a romantic at heart.” Then Ty Lee puts her hand on Mai’s shoulder, which sends off such a spark that Mai comes back to life. She perks up as Ty Lee removes the contact and continues, “So tell me more about this guy.”

Zuko proceeds to gush, Ty Lee staring at him to intensely to notice Mai staring at her. They’d all grown up together, the three of them and Zuko’s sister, Azula. Mai had known she loved Ty Lee since they were young enough to be playing in Azula’s backyard. It hadn’t stopped her from dating Zuko (despite the fact he couldn’t be any more attracted to her than she was to him), and it hadn’t stopped her from tearfully telling Ty Lee she liked girls, only for Ty Lee to hug her and let her know _yeah Mai, same_.

Mai loved Ty Lee. It was the one of two absolute truth she knew of the world.

The second was that Mai could never have her.

Mai was pulled from her thoughts by Ty Lee’s squeal of excitement for Zuko. “Oh my god,” Zuko was muttering, “he really texted me.”

Mai sighed. “Take your break, dumbass,” she said. “You’re just going to be insufferable until you have a time and place for your date.” Zuko muttered out a thank you and ran to their back room. Ty Lee slid next to Mai, both of them leaning over the counter. “You know,” Mai said, “I get that this one wasn’t about me. I was the helpful side character in this one, that’s fine. But where’s _my_ romcom, meet-cute romance?”

She looked to Ty Lee, waiting for the laugh she intended, but all she saw was a momentary flash of confusion cross the other girl’s usually bright face. As quickly as it was there, it vanished, leaving the smiley, untenable Ty Lee in its place. “Oh, don’t worry Mai!” said Ty Lee. “I’m sure she’ll walk in that door any day now!” She turned briskly to head to the back room, probably to consult with Zuko.

Mai groaned and put her head in her hands. “Uh, excuse me,” said the customer who had wandered in, “can you take my order please?”

“Go away,” said Mai, “I’m having a moment.” The man huffed and walked out, but Mai didn’t care. How on earth could anyone walk through the door when she knew the only girl for her had entered her life ten years ago?

+

Mai didn’t love the fact that she was waiting outside Ty Lee’s gym at seven in the morning waiting for her friend to finish her workout. When she had gotten the late night _hey, had to switch my days. pick me up at gym at 6:45?_ text the previous night, she had responded with a quick _sure_.

But Ty Lee’s running fifteen minutes late and Mai doesn’t want to have to rush before they have to open at eight, so she decides to barge in. The desk doesn’t stop her, they’ve seen her enough before to know who she’s there for, and she continues to the weight room.

Mai has the beginnings of a passive aggressive rant in her head, but her mouth dries up when she sees Ty Lee under what has to be two hundred pounds on a dumbbell.

Ok, yeah, Mai’s always known Ty Lee was ripped. She was a gymnast when they were kids and continued the sport well into high school before deciding to quit because she wanted to spend more time with her friends. But seeing her under the fluorescents, benching twice her weight like it’s nothing… does things to Mai. It does a lot of things.

She feels her face heat as Ty Lee finally notices her presence. She smiles and puts down the bar, sitting up to face Mai. “Good morning!” she says, chipper as ever, “Am I running late?”

Mai does not smile. It’s barely an upturn at the corners of her lips. “Yeah, dummy,” she says, “I want to eat breakfast with you before we open.”

Ty Lee nods, very serious, and jumps up to grab her bag and water bottle. “I gotta rinse off,” she says, “but don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”

Mai raises an eyebrow at her. “We both know that’s almost never true.”

“Well,” says Ty Lee, fixing her with a grin, “if you’re that worried about it you could always join me to make sure I’m on time!”

Mai sputters as Ty Lee giggles and skips off. Ty Lee didn’t mean it like that. She _couldn’t_ have meant it like that. Mai took a deep breath and stood very still. Ty Lee didn’t want her like that, she didn’t, and even _thinking_ about it was just going to send Mai’s mind to places she wouldn’t be able to get back from and that would be bad.

Because Ty Lee was happy. Being around her was the only thing that made Mai happy. She wasn’t going to ruin that just because she had gone and caught feelings for a girl who was never going to love her back. Ty Lee was fun, and smiley, and made of sunshine and Mai was none of those things. She was the opposite of everything Ty Lee liked, so it was a wonder she’d even gotten her to stick around for this long.

Ty Lee returned from the back room, hair tied up in a loose bun and in her work clothes. “Hey,” she said, grabbing on to Mai’s hand, “ready to head out?” Mai nodded and squeezed Ty Lee’s hand, letting the smaller girl lead her out of the gym.

Maybe Mai couldn’t ever have Ty Lee, but she was never going to stop appreciating from afar.

+

Not two days later, Mai finds herself in a similarly sticky situation. She and Ty Lee are baking the day’s pastries when Ty Lee gets some flour smudged on her nose.

It’s not Ty Lee’s fault of course. She had a cute nose to begin with. But it means Mai can’t stop looking at her. She’s stealing small glances, just a little taste of Ty Lee at a time. Her tongue is stuck out ever so slightly to the left, marking her focus on her measurements. Mai wants to kiss the stress right off her face.

Mai’s too lost in her thoughts to notice Ty Lee has caught her in the act. “Why are you staring at me?” the shorter girl asks.

Mai panics, and gestures to her own general nose area. Ty Lee tilts her head and brings her finger to the button of her nose, realization spreading across her face when she feels the flour. “Oh,” says Ty Lee, “so you were just gonna let me look like an idiot huh?” She smiles good naturedly, but Mai knows her well enough to recognize the evil glint in her eye. “Well, two can play at that game!”

Mai blinks and somethings hit her. Upon opening her eyes, she discovers that Ty Lee has thrown an entire cup of cocoa powder. “Oh, absolutely not,” Mai says, making a grab for the flour bag nearest to her and beginning to chuck handfuls of it at Ty Lee.

It escalates into all-out war a little too easily. Mai is throwing everything she can find at Ty Lee while the other girl is using her gymnastics superpowers to dodge. Mai just wants to get something to stick to her at this point.

Mai lifts a beaker of cold war and throws it, successfully dousing Ty Lee. The smaller girl smiles and does a back hands spring — _a fucking back handspring?_ — to land herself right in front of Mai, finishing by cracking an egg on her head.

Mai shudders as she feels the yolk dripping down her hair and neck. “Truce?” she asks, a little quietly. She suddenly realizes how close Ty Lee had to stand to her to crack the egg. Ty Lee looks up at her with those big brown eyes and it would be so close, so easy to just lean in and—

“What. The fuck.”  
  


Saved by the bell.

The moment is over as Ty Lee and Mai turn to see Zuko at the door to the kitchen, surveying the damage they’ve caused. “I’m never letting you open again,” he swears at them.

Ty Lee plays innocent. “Zuko, if neither of us can open, that means you would have to open every day.”

Zuko ponders the thought for a moment. “Fuck,” he repeats, “Well I’m not taking away opening privileges. Please just clean this up.”

He leaves to start setting up the register when Mai turns to Ty Lee. “Does Zuko even have the authority to take away our ability to open?” Ty Lee starts to laugh, and Mai feels her heart swell.

+

Mai sits and absentmindedly stirs her coffee while waiting for Azula. Azula doesn’t work with them at the coffee shop. She’d gotten the majority of Ozai’s assets in the will (not that Zuko doesn’t have enough to live on for the rest of his life) but her relationship with their dad was… different. So, while Zuko like to pretend the trust with his name on it didn’t exist, Azula used hers to travel the world, choosing to spend all her father’s money as some type of final revenge.

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad idea. And Azula, as much as she loved the girl, was better in small doses anyway.

As if summoned by thinking about her — _speak of the devil_ was a phrase that could apply to Azula more often than not — the bell rang, signifying the opening door. “Mai, darling!” Mai cracks out a smile as Azula opens her arms and walks forward to hug her oldest friend. “How _are_ you, dear?”

“Doing okay,” says Mai, even-toned. “How was Bali?”

“Marvelous,” says Azula, “And so was Thailand. And France. Where’s Ty Lee?”

Mai rolls her eyes. “Oh, you’re not going to want to deal with her today.”

Azula looked at her curiously, but before she had a chance to ask, Ty Lee stumbled out of the back room. Mai moved to give the girl a hug but the look of sheer terror on Ty Lee’s face stopped her. “Wait,” said Ty Lee, “You’re Azula, right? Mai’s told me so much about you. Or, well, really _reminded me_ , I suppose.”

Azula looked back and forth between the two of them and finally settled on, “You know what? I don’t care at all, actually. Ty Lee, be a dear and get us some coffee?” Ty Lee smiled and went off to get their coffees while Mai and Azula sat down in the booth nearest to them. “So,” Azula started, “she’s been like this all day?”

Mai nodded. “She’s faking it, obviously. She forgot to ask for your coffee order, but she’ll make your usual perfectly.”

“Zuzu texted me and told me he’s with his boytoy until this afternoon,” Azulda said, “which, by the way, you have to tell me all about. But that means it’s just been you and miss amnesiac running the store today?”

“It’s not easy,” said Mai.

Azula shrugged. “Maybe you just need to jog her memory,” Azula said, wiggling her eyebrow suggestively, “Maybe the only thing that will restore her memory is… _true love’s kiss_.” Mai groaned and put her face in her hands. Of course, Azula knows. Azula had known before Mai did. Azula _always_ knows.

She’s saved from any continuation of the conversation by Ty lee coming to the table with three drinks. A black coffee for Mai, a sugary monstrosity for herself, and a small cappuccino with nutmeg for Azula. Azula regards the drink cautiously before taking a sip. Her face lights up. “You remembered my drink!”

Ty Lee looked concerned that she might have been caught but shrugged it off. “I think maybe seeing you helped me remember!” She grabbed ahold of Mai’s shoulders and turned Mai to face her. “Mai, I’m remembering!”

Mai rolled her eyes, catching a glimpse of Azula raising her coffee mug to the two of them. Mai rolls her eyes again.

+

Ty Lee seems to be taking less time to come up with ideas, because the morning after Azula’s visit Mai is met with a post-it note on the cash register.

It reads _you and me forever, babe_ with a huge smiley face underneath. It is clearly Ty Lee’s handwriting, but Mai is choosing to ignore it. She has no idea what kind of an unintentionally cruel joke Ty Lee is playing on her, but her method with Ty Lee’s pranks has always been let them run their course.

She might hold on to the post-it note, though. Just for the evidence.

Ty Lee sees her reading the note and giggles. Mai sighs and continues going about her day. Ty Lee giggles and dodges Mai’s looks for the entirety of their shift, and Mai keeps picking up post-it notes with cute phrases scrawled on them.

_You rock!_

_ME AND U_

_Soulmate_

_CALL ME!_

_I’m yours_

_XOXO_

At the end of the day, Mai and Ty Lee are closing up, when Ty Lee looks at the impressive pile of post-it notes Mai’s collected throughout the day. “Wow!” Ty Lee says, the picture of innocence, “it looks like you have a secret admirer!”

Mai neglects to mention the fact that they’re the only two people who have been in the coffee shop all day. “Yeah,” Mai says, feeling her chest tighten in hurt, “I guess I do.”

+

A few days later, Mai is graced with Ty Lee’s day off. She has no idea what the other girl is up to, but she needs a day without Ty Lee’s antics. She’s looking forward to a slow morning and silent breakfast with Zuko. But Zuko brings the guy from a few weeks ago to their breakfast with a muttered apology, and they both slide into the booth across from her.

Mai fully intends to sit and eat with no words, but Sokka (the name of Zuko’s new guy, she remembers) doesn’t shut up. Ever. He keeps talking and somehow he baits her into talking to. And before she knows it, she’s spilling her guts to the two of them about Ty Lee.

Zuko’s nodding along, have heard most of the story before, save the events of the past few days. Sokka is engrossed, interjecting his thoughts wherever he sees them to be important.

“It’s almost as if she’s _trying_ to do stuff to turn me on at this point,” said Mai, “and I feel guilty about it! I do! But like yesterday she shows up with this pea coat and a Sherlock Holmes hat, telling me about how she’s _Ty Lee, private eye_ and she’s gonna solve my _father’s murder_? Like that’s unfair, she _knows_ how I feel about noir films.”

Zuko pauses a moment. “Wait. Is that what the uniform was about on Monday?”

“Yes!” Mai cries, starting to get worked up. Sokka looks at her expectantly and she continues. “Sunday I get this text from Ty Lee _oh, let’s do a theme day, it’ll be cute_ and she decides like a ‘come as you were in high school theme’. Like the episode of Gossip Girl where Serena’s trying to get Dan back but then he kisses Blair?" Zuko snorts into his drink at the reference, so Mai glares at him before continuing. "So I show up in my oversized band tee and ripped jeans, thinking we’re going for a weekend look, you know, how we actually looked and—”

“Ty Lee showed up in her old uniform,” Zuko finishes, wanting to get the punchline of the story. “Collared shirt, pleated skirt, whole nine catholic school yards.”

Mai groaned. “That shit used to drive me _wild_ when I was sixteen and repressed,” Mai says, “just ask Zuko.” Zuko nods in confirmation. “But now? It does the exact same thing, except ten times worse. I’m absolutely losing my mind here, boys.”

The two of them lean back and contemplate for a moment, before Sokka finally speaks up. “Mai,” Sokka says, “Have you ever considered she might actually like you?”

Mai spits out her drink.

Zuko blinks, covered in coffee, which makes Sokka laugh, which makes her smile. Zuko grabs a napkin and begrudgingly wipes his face off. After a minute allowing them to breathe, Sokka repeats his point. “Mai, she likes you.”

Mai shook her head. “That’s very sweet Sokka, but it’s useless for me to get my hopes up.”

Sokka looks like he wants to add something but Zuko taps his hand and they look at each other and _what the fuck they’ve known each other for less than a month how are the already doing silent communication_? Sokka doesn’t end saying anything else.

+

Mai and Ty Lee are closing a Zuko counts the cash in the register when the door to the stockroom accidentally locks behind him. Mai hears a large click and she and Ty Lee look at each other in distress. Of course, for the first time ever it’s _cold_ in the stock room, and within five minutes Ty Lee starts openly shivering. Mai is pretending like she’s not doing the same.

“Where the _fuck_ is Zuko,” says Mai, her teeth chattering.

Ty Lee beckons for Mai to come join her on the floor and Mai obliges. Ty Lee leans her head on Mai’s shoulder, causing her to tense before eventually relaxing into the touch.

“I’m cold,” says Ty Lee, nestling herself further into Mai’s neck.

Mai smiles. “Me too.”

Ty Lee further wrapped herself around the taller girl. “For warmth,” she said. Mai nodded and remained calm until Ty Lee shifted herself so she was practically sitting in Mai’s lap. Mai breathed in sharply, loudly enough that Ty Lee heard.

Mai met the other girl’s brown eyes, staring up at her. They were wide almost in… anticipation? Mai felt herself being drawn to Ty Lee. Again, they were so close and leaning even closer and Ty Lee’s eyes fluttered shut and—

“I feel like we’re doing this too much.”

Zuko stood at the stockroom door. Mai basically pushed Ty Lee off of her, earning her a hurt look that made her feel like she was cracking. “Sorry mister boss man,” said Ty Lee, quickly covering up with a joke, “didn’t mean to bother you so much.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “If you’re coming back here to make out, you could at least lock the door.”

“We weren’t making out!” Mai said, a little too quickly. Zuko flashed her a sad but understanding look as he ventured further into the room to help her up off the floor. Ty Lee stands up on her own and practically runs out. Mai feels like she might start crying if she doesn’t hug Zuko, so she does. “I think I might have really scared her off,” says Mai, trying to hold it in.

Zuko holds her tightly, just letting the two of them be still. “Don’t worry,” he says, “She’ll be fine. _You guys_ will be fine.”

Mai prays that it’s true.

+

Ty Lee returns the next morning, perfectly happy with Mai. If the default is pretending last night didn’t happen so they can be normal, Mai can get with that program. Not that there even was really a last night. It’s not like anything happened!

But Ty Lee is fine, so Mai decides she’s going to be fine too.

It’s an uneventful day (Mai is pretty sure this coffee shop would go under if Zuko and his uncle weren’t fucking rich) and she and Ty Lee fall back into their usual pattern. Mai was worried that it would be awkward, but she felt comfortable. She breathed a sigh of relief and maybe… disappointment?

Of _course,_ she was disappointed. She had gotten this close to kissing the love of her life only to be harshly reminded of the fact that it was never actually going to happen. Mai had a hairline trigger today, but she figured if she could make it through today without Ty Lee trying anything she’d be fine.

Unfortunately, Mai was not going to get her wish with that one. Towards the end of the day Ty Lee pulls a sharpie out of her bag and starts doodling all over her arms, all the way down to her wrist. Her focus is mesmerizing, and Mai has to tear her eyes away, until—

“Mai? Can I draw on you?” Mai looks at Ty Lee, who gazes back in earnest. “I ran out of room on my arm,” she says, proudly holding up what has to be a full sleeve of sharpie marks at this point. Mai nods and Ty Lee presses her arm against the counter, trying to get a better angle.

It’s not an unpleasant feeling. Mai closes her eyes and melts into the pressure from the marker on her wrist.

Before she even gets used to it, the press is gone and her eyes snap open to a smiling Ty Lee. “Look!” said Ty Lee, holding their wrists together. Mai looked in abject horror— half a heart on her wrist, with the matching half on Ty Lee’s, an arrow speared through it. Mai’s wrist held the tail while Ty Lee’s held the arrowhead. “It’s almost like we’re soulmates!”

Mai yanks her arm away, filled with a pain that she hates exists inside her. “Ty Lee, you have to stop this,” she says, probably a little more harshly than she needs to.

Ty Lee begins to cry, because fuck Mai apparently.

The worst part about it is she’s not sobbing or overdramatizing. It’s quiet and Ty Lee’s turned away, clearly trying to hide her state of upset from Mai. And that breaks Mai’s heart the most.

“Ty Lee,” she says, her hand on the other girl’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, please I’m really sorry.” The irony is not lost on Mai that somehow she’s the one apologizing when Ty Lee’s been playing a cruel prank on her for weeks. “Don’t be sad, just tell me what I did, and I’ll never do it again, I swear Ty Lee.”

“God,” said Ty Lee, “I just don’t see why you have to be so _mean_ about it Mai!”

Mai looked at her, properly confused. “ _I’m_ being the mean one?” she asked, ready to tell Ty Lee how her prank had been making her feel for the past weeks.

But Ty Lee ignored her and barreled on. “You know, you asked for romcom!” she said. “I thought _huh, okay, I can do that_! Because what am I if not a hopeless romantic? So I invite you into the shower, start a food fight, pretend to have amnesia… just see whatever fantasy snaps you to a reality where you know that I’m the only girl for you!”

Mai freezes. “You,” she starts, stumbling over her words, “you like me?”

Ty Lee looks at the floor and laughs humorlessly. It sounds wrong coming out of her mouth. “No idiot, I love you. But apparently cheesy wasn’t working for you, so I tried the more obvious. The notes, the high school get up, the detective film.”

“Oh,” Mai realizes slowly, “you turned the thermostat down in the stockroom. It wasn’t even really locked.”

Ty Lee shrugged. “I didn’t want us to actually get locked in so—”

Mai cuts her off by grabbing her face and kissing her, hard. Ty Lee stiffens for a moment, out of shock more than anything else, and then melts into Mai, wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s waist. They stay like that for maybe a second or a small infinity, but when they pull apart they’re gasping for air.

“I’ve loved you since I met you Ty Lee,” says Mai, still cradling Ty Lee’s face.

Ty Lee looks up at her in wonderment. “Oh,” she says, “why’d you wait so long to do something?”

Mai laughs at that, unbridled and happy in a way she hasn’t felt in a while. “I could ask you the same.”

“Since we were kids, huh?” Mai nods at her, still smiling wide. She thinks if she’s allowed to keep kissing Ty Lee she might smile for the rest of her life. “For me it was junior year, when you started dating Zuko. Azula had to explain to me what was going on.”

Mai blinks. “Wait. Azula knew this whole time?”

“You know how she is. Azula knows _all_.”

“That bitch!” Mai shrieks, and seeing the confusion on Ty Lee’s face she decides to explain. “She knew about me too. That I was in love with you, I mean.” She blushes a little bit, saying the word again out loud. _Love_. She’s allowed to say that to Ty Lee as much as she wants to now.

“So, you’re telling me,” Ty Lee starts, “that Azula could have cleared this up years ago? And she didn’t, probably just for her own amusement? I’m gonna kick her ass the next time I see her.”

And _fuck_ , that’s really hot. Mai can’t help herself from kissing Ty Lee again, leaving the other girl grinning and dopey. “I’m sorry,” Mai says, “I’m going to be doing that a lot from now on. As long as it’s okay with you.”

Ty Lee nodded and pulled Mai back down. Mai, despite herself, smiles against the other girl’s lips.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or kudos to show me you care! holla at me on tumblr [@jewishrachel](https://jewishrachel.tumblr.com/)
> 
> also if you're in an atla discord server looking accepting members hmu! i'm lots of fun i promise


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